Philip Strikes Back
by starrider53
Summary: A Karrablast named Philip tries to get back at an evil Krookodile who messed up his life. Along the way he makes new friends, learns life lessons, and slowly becomes the same Karrablast he used to be.
1. The Picky Customer

_**1: The Picky Customer**_

Our story begins in a jewelry store in a rough urban part of town. The clerk there is a 20 year-old hot-headed, bowtie-wearing Karrablast. It was actually a nice sunny day outside, because it would always be cloudy or rainy there. It was their first sunny day in a long while, but the Karrablast didn't seem to notice. He was too grumpy and too busy cleaning up his countertop to even care about it; in fact, he was always grumpy and somewhat cold-hearted for his own reasons He was never like this, until a particular day changed his life, but that will be revealed later.

As he was getting into the too usual rhythm of cleaning in a circular motion, something happened that doesn't really happen anymore: the door opened – a customer came in. It was a humble little Foongus with curious eyes immediately wandering around the room filled with some precious gems of every color imaginable. The Foongus was somewhat excited and couldn't wait to get started to look for the perfect gift. As he approached the front desk to ask the employee for assistance, the busy Karrablast didn't bother looking up at him; he has lost his sense of friendly customer service over time. The Foongus noticed this, and then noticed a little silver desk bell on the countertop and dinged it, hopefully to get his attention. The Karrablast then sighed heavily, looked up from his center of attention to give a quick look at the patient – yet anxious – customer, looked back down again and muttered, "Can I help you?" The Foongus, who waited for this reply, eagerly answered, "Yes. I would like to see what kind of necklaces you have in stock. You see, my first anniversary is coming up, and my wife is very picky when it comes to gifts… well anything, actually. *Chuckle* Anyways, can you –"

"Have a look around and see what you like," the Karrablast interrupted as he waved his arm across the room without looking up once. The Foongus blinked and wanted to continue the talk, but he then considered looking around first and did so. The Karrablast didn't bother asking him what exactly does he have in mind, but he assumed that he would find it, pay it, and leave him alone, just like everyone else has, ever since that day…

The Foongus came back about five minutes later and said, "Do you have any other selections? These simply won't please her." The Karrablast then made eye contact with a straight look and without saying anything. Then he got off of his chair to retrieve a dusty catalog from the bookshelf behind him. He opened up to the necklaces section and handed it to the Foongus. Then he got back up on his chair and resumed his cleaning. With a little more hope, the Foongus skimmed through to see if his ideal gift was there. He had a sort of worried look on his face until he came across a horizontally cut out newspaper article neatly folded in half between the pages. Curiously, he unfolded it carefully and read it. It said:

"Jewelry Store Robbed and Burned!"

The heading seemed to be screaming it out with its big bold letters. He was a bit shocked and continued to read some more. It talked about how an infamous Krookodile known as "Gold Rush" ruined a little jewelry store's reputation of prosperity and how it affected the only clerk who worked there. Since that day, no one checked up on him or even went inside his store, and this all happened about a year ago. The Foongus was so shocked and figured out that he was in the store that the article talked about, where this horrible thing happened.

The Karrablast looked over to see what was taking the Foongus so long to decide and then saw the article in his hands. With sudden alarm, he got down from his chair and rushed over next to the customer. "Don't read that!" he plead, trying to take the article away from his hands. The Foongus refused, but the Karrablast managed to take it away and began to walk back behind the counter. Then the Foongus asked quietly, "Did this really happen?" The Karrablast then stopped and hesitated before answering. He sighed and finally answered. "It was a long time ago. I was barely taking over the family business as my parents left to take a vacation. I was doing pretty good the first week, until I got a phone call from someone telling me that my parents died in a cruise line crash. I thought it was a joke; it had to be. But they never came back. But like my dad always said: 'Life goes on.' So I carried on.

"Despite that terrible incident, I was earning good money and had customers going in and out of my store. Then it all went away when that Krookodile did what he did. He stole the most valuable of the gems I have and then burned the store. It happened in the middle of the night, and it was when I realized I forgot to lock up. He must've been waiting for that moment for a while, and now he got it. Luckily when the fire was put off, there were some things that I was able to save. But the next day, for some reason, nobody hasn't come in here for anything; they just began avoiding my store, even my best customers. I plead for their help, but they always turned me down. I guess they just didn't trust my store anymore. I lost friends, and very few people come in here. It felt like something snapped inside me, and I became this cold Pokémon, and thought of trusting no one. It's been like that ever since…"

The Foongus felt bad that those things have happened to him. Poor guy! The Karrablast then drifted his sad gaze onto the big window facing the rest of the town, remembering everything as if it happened yesterday. The thought alone always tugged his heartstrings. He didn't know why he told a complete stranger all of this, but it sure felt good letting go and finally telling someone about it. He felt somewhat lighter, but his sadness weighed him down a bit still.

The Foongus, who didn't know how exactly to respond to the Karrablast's story, tried to assure him. "Well, not everyone is bad. There's still good people in this world." The Foongus smiled at the Karrablast, even though he still had his back turned to him. "…Like me," he continued. The Karrablast still didn't say anything and continued his quiet mourning as he continually stared at the window. Then the Foongus extended his arm out. "My name is John, by the way," he said.

The Karrablast then turned around to face him with his sad gaze. He looked at his hand, and deduced that he was doing it out of good intentions. Then he took his hand and shook it. "I'm Philip," he said, without smiling, but with a small change in his eyes. John half-smiled at him and then resumed browsing the catalog. Philip then was about to sit down when he realized something. _Maybe this guy isn't as bad as he says he is, _he thought. He hasn't talked to anyone else in a long time until he came along, and he seemed like a nice Pokémon. He thought that he should help him out and try out that friendly customer service thing again. Philip walked back again towards John and stopped him. "You know what?" he said, no longer with such a gloomy face. "Let me show you what I have in the back room instead. There's not a lot of stuff there, but they're pretty decent."

John was surprised at the change of the Karrablast's attitude, but he agreed nonetheless as he returned the catalog. Philip then tucked in the article back where it originally was, and signaled the Foongus to follow him. The two little Pokémon proceeded to the back room. When they got there, the room was lit by a dim light bulb hanging low from the ceiling. It was cold in there, and felt somewhat eerie. There were rows of shelves that used to hold countless items, but now it makes up for it by collecting dust instead; they're not used a lot anymore.

They walked up to the end of the fifth row, where there were three necklaces. They were all different in style, but were precious in their own way. One had blue gems, the other had red ones, and the last one had silver ones. The Karrablast then asked, "So, uh, how long have you been married?" The Foongus, who didn't mind the sudden question at all, took out a small leather wallet and revealed a picture of him and a happy little Petilil side by side smiling at the camera. "Her name is Delilah," the Foongus said proudly. "We are going to be married for a year now. I know it's not a lot, but I'm certain we'll spend all of our years together forever." He blushed a little at the thought. They were both looking at the picture for a while. "Well… congrats," said the Karrablast. "You must be very lucky." "Why, yes I am!" the Foongus chimed, almost in sing-song. The Karrablast studied the picture some more. "She'll like the blue one," he said.

"…How do you know?"

"The color complements her face, especially her eyes. Trust me; she'll love it." The Karrablast forgot that he had his "businessman charisma" still flowing through his blood. He's happy that he didn't lose that.

The Foongus was amazed at how well the Karrablast knows the likes of people. "Wow, you must really know what the ladies want, huh? *Chuckle*" he said playfully, trying to break the ice a little. The Karrablast, who was now getting comfortable with the Foongus's presence, replied, "Well, I don't mean to brag but, yes. Yes I do."

"You must be a ladies' man, right?"

"…No… *Awkward Chuckle*"

"Well it seems like you are, man!"

"No, honestly. Love hasn't given me a chance."

"Yet! I'm sure you'll find the gal of your dreams soon. I mean, you're a great guy! I'm sure that day will come anytime soon!"

"…You think so?"

" I know so!"

The Karrablast thought it was a bit awkward talking about his love life. But it felt good talking to someone other than himself for once. As they continued to talk some more, they got to know each other and became good friends. The Foongus was the Karrablast's first true friend he ever had. The sunny weather did make a difference this time after all.

When the Foongus was ready to go, he asked, "So how much will it be?" The Karrablast, now in a lighter and happier mood, replied, "Oh no! It's free! I insist!"

"Oh, but I want to pay for it!"

"It's okay, really! It's my anniversary gift to you!"

"Thank you, but let me pay at least _something_!"

"Well, if you insist… it will be 550 Poké please."

The Foongus happily paid up and the Karrablast was thankful for getting paid a good amount of money by a good friend. They have promised to keep in touch and the Foongus left, leaving the Karrablast with his loneliness once again. But this time, Philip didn't feel anything negative; he felt relieved, like if a friend was the one thing he needed to free himself. He wished moments like this could happen all the time.


	2. Who's That Pokemon?

_**2: Who's That Pokémon?**_

A week has passed by, and business wasn't going too well for the Karrablast. But one thing for certain is that he's not all that grumpy anymore thanks to his best friend John the Foongus. One cloudy day, as Philip was sweeping the floor, the Foongus stopped by to say hello.

"Philip! How've you been?"

"Hey, John! I've been okay, and yourself?"

"Pretty good, thank you. By the way, Delilah loved the necklace! You were right!"

"See? I told you! *Chuckle*"

As they began talking, the door creaked as someone came in. It was a very strange creature with an appearance of a blue button with big brown eyes. "Hello," he said in a shy way. The Karrablast and the Foongus stared at that weird creature. No one has ever seen or heard of it before. What could such a thing be doing here?

Then the Karrablast broke the awkward silence. "Um… Who are you?" he asked. The Pokémon smiled shyly. "Oh sorry! My name is Mateo, and I am a Buttonelli. I am an imaginary Pokemon, and I come from another dimension to help Pokemon in need."

"You're from another dimension?" piped up the curious Foongus. "Yes," continued the Buttonelli. "I have been created to give a lending hand to anyone and everyone. After all, I am the Fixing Pokemon! Are you in need of assistance by any chance?"

The Karrablast and the Foongus looked at each other, still taking in evertything the mysterious Pokemon had told them. Suddenly, they thought of the same thing and gave each other a look of approval. "Well," the Karrablast finally answered, "There was this incident that happened some time ago…"

"Oh that's terrible!" the Buttonelli exclaimed after hearing what happened to the store. He pondered at what to do to help out. Then he had an idea. He asked the Karrablast to let him borrow a ruby to do something with it. "Stay here!" the Buttonelli said as he rushed out of the door. The Karrablast and the Foongus looked at each other, both uncertain on what he's going to do. The Karrablast hoped he didn't just steal that ruby.

Meanwhile, the Buttonelli rushed out to his car and teleported back to his own dimension through a dimensional portal. He passed through many stars and planets, almost at light speed, and finally got to his homeland. He lives in a small blue house under a redwood tree in Yellow City on a grayish planet. Yellow City looks like a normal city on Earth. It is a place best known for its yellow streets that sparkled under the always shining sun, and every tree you encountered is filled with lots and lots of bananas. The sky is always blue and clear, and the water is always pure and clean, and always sparkled as it rushes through streams and rivers. It is like a place that has its own definition of paradise.

As Buttonelli entered his house, he went down a set of stairs that led to the basement and started up a machine. The machine is similar to a copy machine, the only difference being that you can literally copy anything you want, no matter what the amount was. He placed the ruby in the spout of the machine and made dozens and dozens of gems. Satisfied with the result, Buttonelli packed up everything and hurried back to the dimension where the confused Karrablast and Foongus were patiently waiting for his return.

They were both surprised at how much jewelry there was in the sack. "This should help out with your business!" the Buttonelli assured the amazed Karrablast whose mouth was agape from what he saw before him. He then picked up a ruby and examined it with an eyepiece. "Are you sure these are not stolen or counterfeit?" he questioned. "Oh, no! They are all 100% real. I have made them with my special machine!" As the Buttonelli explained how the machine worked, the Foongus had an idea developing in his head, one that will surely help his buddy out.

"Say," the Foongus started. How would you like to work for Philip in making jewelry? We can work something out where you can send jewels from your home to the store. What'd you say?"

The Karrablast liked the sound of that. He considered it, only to find one problem. "But how am I going to get customers in here?" he asked, feeling a little worried at the thought. "We can advertize around town," the Foongus suggested after putting some thought into it. "Maybe then they'll like to come back here and shop."

"Fantastic!" Buttonelli exclaimed with excitement. "I'll get all the gear set up to start your new future!" And with that said, there was hope in the air for Philip's jewelry store and for himself.


	3. Love at First Light

_**3: Love at First Light**_

A month had passed by ever since the Fixing Pokemon Buttonelli unexpectedly stopped by and planted a seed of hope for Philip's jewelry store. Now he works with him, and John the Foongus even applied for a part time job there. Customers slowly came over thanks to the advertisements that were put out around town. Business was finally and slowly picking up its pace.

One night, after a busy day at the store, it was finally closing time. John left earlier, leaving Philip all by himself, or that's how it was for a few minutes. As he put away his broom and was about to close the store, the door swung open and hit against the wall as a female Litwick rushed inside. She slammed the door behind her breathing heavily. She had a scared look on her face as her big amber eyes quivered and glowed with fright. She looked at Philip still breathing heavily with a look that plead for help, and without any hesitation rushed to the back of the store to hide. Philip looked back to the direction where the Litwick took off with a surprised face. He had no idea on what just happened. Before Philip could try to figure out what's going on, a big male Unfezant burst into the store almost the same way the Litwick did. Philip jumped a little from surprise. Now he really didn't know what's going on. The Unfezant glared around the room as he breathed heavily, eyes almost twitching from anger, until his eyes met Philip's. The Unfezant stomped over towards him and grabbed him up to his eye level. Philip was now really scared and felt hopeless under the Unfezant's strong grasp. Then Philip saw the details marked on the Unfezant's face. He had some scars surrounding his left eye, and his beak was a bit chipped off at the tip. It was kind of like a typical pirate kind of look.

"I know you're hiding someone in here," the Unfezant hissed with a Brooklyn accent. He then dropped the Karrablast and began his hunt for the Litwick. Philip struggled to get up and wiped dirt off of himself. He no longer felt scared as his anger immediately escalated and got to him. He turned around and stomped over to the intruding Unfezant. Philip noticed that the Unfezant was lifting and tossing boxes around carelessly, and he heard things shatter as the boxes crashed onto the floor. This only added more fuel to his burning anger. _Who does this guy think he is, thrashing around my store? MY PROPERTY!?_ he thought. This had to end now.

"Hey, buddy!" Philip called out to the intruder as he poked him, impatience and anger mixed in with his voice. "You better get outta my store NOW before I call the cops. I ain't got nothin' of yours hiding here! Take your business somewhere else!" The Unfezant looked up from his scavenger hunt and down at the now infuriated Karrablast. He couldn't help but smirk at the glare the Karrablast gave him. _Some nerve this guy had, talkin' to me like that!_ he thought. "Oh?" he said. "Do ya really wanna take that route, _pal_?" He fluffed up his feathers to make him look bigger as he leaned closer to the Karrablast. "Well, it's MY WAY you're going!" As soon as he finished saying that, he attacked Philip with an unexpected Quick Attack. The blow sent Philip flying towards the other side of the store and crashed against the wall, followed by face-planting on the floor with a loud thud. The Unfezant laughed in an evil manner, thinking that he was through with the Karrablast and resumed his search.

Philip struggled to get up and stand on his trembling legs. He wiped his mouth which had some blood on it. _Did he just do that?_ he thought. _Did he just really f*cking DO THAT!? _Philip's rowdy nature began to get the best of him, a feeling he hadn't experienced in a really long time. He began to get a sudden adrenaline rush as he charged at the enemy. He shrieked at the top of his lungs, encouraging a bigger power emerge from him as he attacked the Unfezant with Poison Jab, getting him at his stomach. It was a lucky hit. He knocked all of his air out as he was taken completely off guard. The Unfezant tried to attack again, but he flinched as the poison slowly began to spread out throughout his body; he needed an antidote, quick. He decided to end the battle there.

"Okay, you win… for now," he managed to say as he clenched his stomach. "But I'll be back! – ACK! - You'll see!" Then he leaned against the door and pushed it, limping away in pain.

Philip was glaring at the door, still breathing heavily. As his anger subsided, he remembered about the Litwick who came in earlier. Philip now knew the Unfezant was after her, but why? Only one way to find out.

Philip began looking for her, walking over to the back of the room. He went in, noticing how quiet it was, and somewhat dark, too. "He's gone. You can come out now," he called out. Hopefully it wasn't too straight-forward. A few moments later, the Litwick slowly poked her head out from behind a closet door. Her amber eyes glowed brighter and a little less scared than before. "Don't be afraid," Philip slightly whispered, trying to reassure her with a smile. "It's okay. I'm not a bad guy." The Litwick didn't change her expression as she slowly approached the Karrablast, not looking away once. As their eyes were locked with each other's, Philip noticed that she looked different from other Litwick he had seen. Her purple-colored candlelight gave off a warm glow that lit her face up perfectly. Her amber eyes were round orbs that almost looked like they were made out of honey. Her little hop was delicate and made light taps against the wooden floor. That's when Philip realized she was very attractive, and all of a sudden he forgot about what had happened earlier. It was as if all of his anger emanated from his body and had no more of it left. His expression was filled with awe as a slight blush appeared on his face; he never felt like this before. Could this be what love felt like?

The Litwick stopped right in front of Philip. She knew that it was all her fault that the Unfezant disrupted the Karrablast's peaceful atmosphere. She needed to apologize and make it up to him; it was the right thing to do, after all. "I'm sorry for the trouble. It was my entire fault, and I had no right to get you involved like this. Can I make it up to you?" Philip felt his face get hotter as his stomach tightened into a big knot. Her voice was so calm and soothing, it was like the melody of a harp; it sent tiny shivers down his little spine.

For a moment it felt like he lost his voice, but found it once he realized he had to say something. He coughed a little as he regained his posture. "Oh, uh, don't worry about it," he said while scratching the back of his head, his mouth curved up into a tiny smile. "I understand it was an emergency."

"No, really. I want to make it up to you. I insist!"

"No, it's okay. Really."

"…Are you sure?"

"Absolutely."

The Litwick slightly nodded, a little surprised that the Karrablast didn't want anything in return.

Then there was an awkward silence. It was a little uncomfortable being there, especially with a complete stranger. Philip had the sudden urge to hear her voice again. He wanted to… do something. But what? He didn't know why he was feeling like that; it can't be love… can it? He doesn't even know her! Or more importantly, her name. Daring to find out, he used it as an excuse to break the silent tension between them. He extended his arm out toward the quiet Litwick. "My name is Philip. What's your name?"

The Litwick looked up at Philip and his awkward smile. Judging that he's not a bad guy, she took his hand softly and shook it lightly. "My name is Amelia". She half-smiled at Philip as she brushed her hand away from his.

_Wow,_ Philip thought. _Her hand is so soft… Gah! Stop this, Philip!_ "Would you like some tea? It's pretty cold outside tonight," Philip offered, trying to set his distracting thoughts aside. Amelia didn't realize she was feeling a little cold until he mentioned it. And it was a little windy, so a little heat could strengthen her fire. Thank you. That's very kind of you," she answered. Then they walked out of the back room and headed for the little stove on the other corner of the store. It was tea time for these two new acquaintances.


	4. A New Friend

_**Chapter 4: A New Friend**_

Philip and Amelia were drinking their hot chamomile tea over some casual conversation. Over the past hour they have gotten to know each other better, quickly becoming good acquaintances and having a good time without any interruptions. However, Philip was curious in why Amelia was being chased by that pirate-looking Unfezant. He thought about asking earlier, but stopped himself, knowing it was a bit too soon to ask. But now that they have gained each other's trust, maybe it was worth a shot.

"So, Amelia," Philip began, carefully choosing his words. "Don't take this the wrong way or anything, but why was that guy looking for you anyway?" Amelia felt a little uncomfortable and embarrassed at the same time when she remembered about the incident that happened earlier. She totally forgot about it until he mentioned it, because she was having a great time with Philip. She doesn't remember when the last time she felt happy was and not being worried all the time for possible danger waiting for its chance to strike. She sipped a bit of her tea before setting it down on the table and took a deep breath. After thinking where should she start, she proceeded with her explanation.

"The Unfezant's name is Pete. He is the leader of an infamous gang that likes to hang out on the roughest part of town, always looking for trouble. He kind of picks on me a lot, because our families had this big feud many years ago – something about social status, I don't quite remember - and apparently he wants to continue it. And, since I'm an only child, and my parents really can't do anything about it, I let him have his little victories.

"But today was different. This time, he just took it too far. I was walking down town, minding my own business, and then he comes out of nowhere trying to stuff me in a bag – trying to _kidnap_ me. Luckily I freed myself from his clutches and started running for my life throughout town and ended up here, since it was the only place I saw open at this time of day."

Amelia paused to drink more of her tea, this time a gloomy mood clouding her face. Philip looked at her, noting the expression, now with more understanding of her situation. He felt sorry for her and he wished he knew how to help her.

After a moment of silence, Amelia sighed before getting up. "Thanks a lot, Philip," she said. "I had a good time, but it's getting late and I should be going home now." Philip suddenly felt a little uneasy; he didn't want her to go home alone. And more importantly, he just didn't want her to go. He got up quickly, pushing his chair back a little too hard, making it screech against the tile floor. "Already? Can't you stay just a little longer?" He was almost taken aback to what escaped from his mouth, but at the moment, somehow, it felt like the right words to say.

Amelia smiled. "I'd like to, but, really, I can't. My parents must be worried sick by now, knowing that I'm not home by now." She truly wished she could stay some more, too, but she didn't want her parents to think the worst thoughts about her well-being. She loved them very much, and she doesn't want to hurt their feelings or anything of he sort; she loved them both to death.

Philip nodded with understanding, but couldn't help but feel sad. He just couldn't get these weird feelings to go away! "Okay," he said. "…b-but let me take you home." A mix of excitement and hope could be picked up in his voice, his eyes almost twinkling from the same thing. He cared about her, a little too much than he thought.

Amelia thought about it. She doesn't want to be exposed to danger, and certainly not at this hour. "Okay," she finally said with a warm smile. Philip felt his heart thumping loudly as he smiled back widely; he felt like the happiest Pokemon in the whole world.

Philip locked up his store with a gold key as Amelia patiently waited for him. She rubbed her arms from the cold air blowing gently across the now sleeping town. Philip safely put away his key and began walking Amelia home.

It was a cold dark night. There were a few lamp posts on, one of them flickering dimly. There were some puddles scattered about the street, because it rained earlier. Amelia hoped that it wouldn't rain while she was out now, worried that her candlelight might go out.

Everything around them was very quiet and still, with the exception of the sound of their small footsteps. The tall dark buildings seemed to surround them, setting a sort of scary scene for them.

After walking a few steps, Philip realized he didn't know where they were going. Deciding to break the silence a bit, he asked Amelia. "So where do you live?" Amelia looked at him, a little embarrassed at the realization of not telling him where they were going. She giggled. "Oh, my bad," she said. "I live about two blocks from your store, in an apartment complex on the third floor." Philip then felt a sort of excitement build up inside him as he learned this new information. Maybe it was because she lived near his store? He thought about possibly stopping by and visiting her at her place… as a friend. Right. Philip didn't know why he twitched a bit when he thought word "friend". _Ugh! What am I thinking!?_ He thought. He felt like slapping himself. _Get it together._ _Stop feeling so… weird. Why are you feeling weird?_ As he was deep in thought, he made an angry face from all of his mixed up feelings, and unfortunately for him Amelia saw it just in time before he could revert back to normal. Philip then realized she was looking at him and blushed a bit as he walked a bit faster to avoid her gaze.

"Wait!" Amelia called to him. "We're already here!" Philip stopped to take this in, his back still turned to her from embarrassment. It did not feel like they walked two blocks, but merely a few steps. This only strengthened his embarrassment but decided it was time to face Amelia. He laughed at himself; he was really losing it.

"Oh. Whoops! Ha ha," he said awkwardly as he walked towards Amelia's side, and proceeded to walk towards the main entrance of the apartment complex.

Aside from his weird behavior, Amelia thought that his gesture of him walking her home was very sweet, even though she unintentionally brought him into the whole Unfezant situation that happened not so long ago. She then thought that it would be nice if he came in her place for a bit. She turned to Philip. "Would you like to come in?" Philip was sort of surprised yet happy at the same time. He accepted her invitation, taking advantage of the opportunity to be with her, because there was something that told him he wants to. "Okay!" he said with a big smile and a bit more enthusiasm than necessary. Amelia smiled back and led the way up to her apartment.

As they were walking up the flight of stairs, Amelia talked about her parents. Philip could tell she loved and cared for them a whole lot from the stories she was telling him. He couldn't help but smile at her, ignoring the fact that the climb up the stairs was actually longer than he thought. Soon enough, they were standing in front of the apartment door. Amelia took out a small silver key and unlocked the door. There, they found a Drifblim and a Chandelure sitting on a brown leather couch watching a late night game show from a small black TV with an antenna on top. The Chandelure turned around when he heard the gentle click of the door closing and sighed with relief.

"Amelia!" He acknowledged her presence with a warm smile and approached her. "Where were you? Your mother and I have been worried about you."

"Hi, dad," Amelia answered. "You don't have to worry anymore, now that I'm here." She then held Philip's hand. "This is my friend, Philip. He walked me home." Philip tried so hard not to blush at her sudden gesture. The softness of her hands was all he could think about at the moment. After what seemed a while had passed, he realized he needed to say something. He cleared his throat before speaking.

"N-nice to meet you, sir," he said with a nervous grin. The Chandelure's flames flared up with happiness as he smiled back at the little Karrablast. "Thank you for bringing my daughter back home, safe and sound," he said. "I hope it wasn't much trouble for you."

"Not at all, sir."

"Oh, please, call me Richard."

All his life, Philip thought that all Chandelure were intimidating and their only purpose was to lure prey. But now that he met Richard, he defied that theory. It just goes to show you that not everything is what it seems. Now he didn't feel so intimidated by him.

Amelia glanced at her mother who was still sitting on the couch. "That must be a good game show," she stated. Richard chuckled. "Your mother fell asleep while she waited for you." Amelia couldn't help but smile at her.

Richard then turned his attention back to Philip. "Would you like to stay a bit and have some bread?" he asked. "With some hot chocolate, perhaps?" Philip knew it was already too late to be out, but he made an exception this time. "Sure," he replied with a small smile. Richard smiled as he went to turn off the TV and take his wife to their bedroom. He then went to the kitchen to warm up the hot chocolate he made in the morning.

Philip and Amelia were left alone in the living room. There was an awkward silence between them. Philip and Amelia felt slightly uncomfortable being in this situation. Philip looked around at all the picture frames and such hanging on the walls and placed on some furniture. "This is a nice place you got here," he told her. Amelia blushed at the complement and smiled. "Thank you," she said. "Although it is a bit dark in our apartment, it has the same feeling as a cozy home." Her apartment was indeed dark, which was suitable for any Ghost Type Pokemon. Philip didn't feel intimidated by it either, unlikely of him to feel that way compared to other Pokemon.

Soon, the aroma of hot chocolate made its way throughout the apartment, indicating that it is ready to drink. Philip and Amelia both took this as an excuse to break the awkward tension between them. They met Richard in the rather small dull kitchen. There were pots and pans stacked on the stove, and the small kitchen table had a lot of papers scattered on top. "Amelia," Richard said as he was stirring the hot chocolate in a small black pot. "Please clear up the table a bit so we won't get those papers dirty." Amelia nodded and went over to stack the papers up in neat piles. Philip offered to help, stacking what seemed to be different people's taxes. He assumed one of Amelia's parents worked as a tax preparer.

Richard then came over with three brown mugs filled with hot chocolate slightly spilling over the brim and set them carefully on the table. He then opened a beige colored bread box which had just enough bread for the three of them. "Looks like we'll have to buy some more bread tomorrow," Richard thought out loud. He handed a piece to each of the members sitting around the table and began eating. It was a little quiet except for the munching coming from the three Pokemon. Philip never thought he would taste hot chocolate that is really good until he tasted this one. It was by far the best hot chocolate he ever had. "This is really good, Mr. Richard," Philip said. Richard smiled widely. "Thank you, son," he said. "I picked up my cooking skills when I was in the Big War."

"You were in the war?" Philip asked amazed. "That's right," Richard said. "But being a chef in that kind of environment wasn't easy. There were very few ingredients to work with, and it was pretty bad, especially because you had thousands of mouths to feed. We needed to ration the servings so that everyone got something to eat." Richard sighed. "Yep; it really was tough. But now I'm glad it's over."

Richard told them about the Big War, which was a war that took place about 25 years ago. It all started because of a big disagreement with a Slaking and a Slowking, who were both leaders of different countries. The Slowking was a righteous king, while the Slaking was a ferocious dictator. They both wanted to claim a certain region to trade with, but the Slaking wanted it all for himself, while the Slowking wanted to modernize it and be able to trade with the outside world. Because of this, the Slaking declared war on the Slowking and his country, and because of the war, many Pokemon were drafted into the PokeArmy, including a young Lampent Richard, who learned to be a chef by a Geodude, feeding all the Pokemon soldiers through tireless days and nights. The war was over four years later when the Slowking army finally defeated the Slaking army. But being the generous king he is, the Slowking proposed a treaty with the other king so that they are able to have a fair share of the trade, under certain circumstances, including the condition that there shall not be another disagreement over the same manner.

"So then," continued Richard, "I found out that I liked cooking so much that I decided to open up a small restaurant along with my friend Bobby, the Geodude I've mentioned earlier. We're still doing alright, even though we don't get a whole lot of customers in. But nevertheless, I am happy." Philip felt immediately that he could relate to him easily with business matters, but didn't say anything and simply nodded. Richard then turned to Amelia and smiled. "And on the first week of business, that's when I met your mother." Amelia nodded, remembering that story her father never got tired of telling.

"She was the most beautiful gal I've ever seen," he went on. "But Bobby always said she wasn't my type, because she was a Drifloon back then. I ignored him and told 'em, 'Oh yeah? Well she's a Ghost type for sure, and that's good enough for me!'" He laughed, remembering that day very well. "I went up to her and her group of friends, and, using my manly charm, asked her what would she like." Amelia rolled her eyes at her dad's silliness. "I was surprised when she ordered chicken noodle soup, so I told her, 'Oh, what a coincidence! I like chicken noodle soup, too!' She laughed, and boy I knew she was bound to be mine forever." Philip couldn't believe how thoughtful Richard was. He wished he had that same characteristic as him. He smiled, now completely sure that this Chandelure was different from the rest.

"So after I gave her soup, I stopped by literally every five minutes to ask, 'How you doin'?' or 'Is everything okay here?' Sure, I knew I was a little annoying at first, but I didn't care. I wanted her to notice me, and I knew she knew that." Richard paused to take a sip from his hot chocolate. "When she left, I couldn't help but ask her for her number, and she gladly accepted. I was too happy that day, that when she left, Bobby told me I needed to step outside for a minute." Richard laughed heartedly. "And when I did, I screamed so loud that I was sure that another planet could've heard me!" He laughed some more, shedding a tear. Philip couldn't help but to join in the laughter, noticing Amelia shaking her head slightly as she smiled at her dad.

"Yes," he said. "I immediately called her when I got out of work and asked her out to a movie, and at first she didn't recognize me, but after a little chit-chat, she finally agreed. So we went to watch a scary movie, so that she could intentionally hold on to me at the scary parts." He winked at Philip, letting him know of his little intention. "Oh, dad," Amelia said as she giggled. Richard smiled. "Aw, c'mon, honey!" he said. "Don't tell me it doesn't work. Right, Philip?"

Philip looked up at him and smiled shyly. "I honestly don't know," he said. "I've never done it before." Richard eyed him suspiciously. "Are you serious?" he asked. "You've _never_ done it before?" Philip shook his head in reply. Richard couldn't believe it and laughed. "Oh, Philip! Didn't you ever date a girl before?" Philip shook his head some more. "No," he said, a little uncomfortable this time. Amelia had to agree with her father this time, because she didn't believe it either. She thought that Philip was cute, yet she couldn't believe that a girl has not gone out with him. She felt a sudden uneasy feeling inside, but shook it off once her dad resumed his story.

"Well, son, you have no idea what you're missing!" Richard said, understanding Philip's uneasiness. "You should catch on soon!" He winked at him again, assuring him of doing so. Philip could only smile as a reply, since he really didn't know what else to say.

"So anyway," Richard said, "When I walked her home the first night out, I asked her if she wanted to go out another time. Of _course_ she said yes!" he chuckled. "So after a few more dates, I asked her if she wanted to go steady, but I was turned down. She said she didn't feel ready at the moment. Of course I understood that she felt uncertain about it, but that was the _worst_ day of my life! I was so upset that I didn't eat for _three days_!" He took another sip from his not so hot chocolate before continuing. "I also didn't understand her rejection because we always had a good time when we went out. But then, she surprised me by calling me a few days later, asking _me_ out! I happily accepted right away, and we went to a drive-in theater, watching the _same exact_ movie we watched on our first date. I had a feeling she did this on purpose, and it turned out she did. She told me, 'I was confused about you, but now I know…', and she kissed me! _ME!_ On the _LIPS!_" His yellow eyes glowed brighter at the forgotten adrenaline of his first kiss. Philip smiled at the excited Chandelure, wondering then how it felt like to be kissed. "From that day," he said, "We were inseparable, and we knew it. Time passed by, and we knew each other more and more every passing day. Then, on Sunday, October 31st, 1988, exactly 8 o'clock at night, I asked her to marry me." Richard sighed happily as he looked up at the ceiling. "I still remember her expression well. She smiled wide as she cried with joy. At 8:02, she said yes and kissed me again." Richard looked back down at her daughter and her friend. "Yes, sir. That is what happened to me as a Lampent." He looked at Philip. "I'm sorry I went completely off topic. I just got too excited and couldn't help but to tell this story I never get tired of telling." Philip smiled. "It's alright. I enjoyed listening to your story." Philip then scooted out of his chair. "Well, thank you again for the hot chocolate. It was the best I've ever had." Richard smiled. "Of course! And please stop by my restaurant anytime. It's called 'Chow Time'." He got up, and Amelia did afterwards. They followed Philip to the front door.

"Thanks again," Philip said. "No. Thank you, son!" Richard said. "Thank you for bringing my daughter home."

Amelia smiled at Philip. "We should hang out sometime. I work at my dad's restaurant, too," she said. Philip smiled shyly. "Yeah… sure," he said. "I'll keep in touch." Amelia then hugged Philip, taking him by complete surprise. "Thank you," she told him. Philip felt his face get hot, and he was sure that he was red as a tomato. He couldn't say anything but a slight "Uh huh", and his heart was thumping loudly against his chest.

After the hug, he looked at them quickly and then turned around quickly for them not to see him. "Goodbye," he said shakily. "Farewell!" Richard said. "Bye," Amelia said. Philip opened the door and stepped out of the apartment. He closed the door behind him and leaned against it as he let out a long sigh. The hallway was quiet and very dim, and rain could be heard outside. Philip, however, didn't pay any attention to that. He was still focused on Amelia's hug. He still felt her warmth on his chest, and her tiny arms wrapped around him. He knew his blush wouldn't leave from his face anytime soon, but it was okay at the moment, as long as no one was around to see him. He took a moment to reflect with himself. Amelia was all he could think about. He couldn't get her off of his head. Could it be… no, it can't be. But… he wasn't sure if he was still sane; this whole situation with her was driving him crazy. As the minutes passed, he was still leaning against Amelia's apartment door, but this time, he was finally convinced of something he had been denying all day: he is truly head over heels in love with her.


	5. I Know That Guy!

_**Chapter 5: I Know That Guy!**_

The next day, Philip couldn't concentrate on his job after being at Amelia's apartment. He would always catch himself staring off as he thought more and more about her, and every time he would shake his head in frustration. It's been going on for a long time that even John began to notice. John was getting worried, wondering why Philip was worked up for what seems like nothing. He decided to confront him at once.

"Hey," John said. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" Philip nodded, wondering what was concerning him as they both went to the back of the store. John's face now showed true concern, which got Philip's curiosity even more.

"I've noticed that you're acting a bit strange today," John said. "You would gaze out and then get mad or something." He then put a hand on Philip's shoulder. "If there's something bothering you, you know you can tell me what it is."

Philip now understood what he was so worried about and blushed a bit from embarrassment. "Oh, that," he said. "Don't worry about it; it's…nothing." John didn't believe him at all. Then Philip added, "I guess it's sort of a… y'know, girl problem…"

Hearing this, the little Foongus's eyes lit up and smiled. "Ohhh…" he said. "For a second there, I thought it was something bad! *chuckle*" Philip blushed a deeper shade of red and smirked a little. He felt like he was back in grade school, when sharing small secrets with a friend was exciting.

"Well," John said, raising an eyebrow as he nudged the Karrablast playfully, "What's her name?"

"…Amelia," Philip said, almost pronouncing every syllable clearly and delicately. In an instant he remembered her never-blinking glowing amber eyes, and his heart rate began to speed up. John smiled from ear to ear. "Oh-h!" he said excitedly. "Tell me all about her!"

They spent a good ten minutes talking about how Philip met Amelia. There were a lot of excited responses from John, like "Ooh!" and "Oh!" and "Ahhh…". John was really intrigued by this sudden love story.

When Philip and John were laughing, Philip took a peak out the window and immediately stopped laughing. He froze in place, staring at the figure on the other side of the window. John noticed how tense his friend was getting and followed where he was staring at. He saw a mean-looking Krookodile wearing a black tip hat and a heavy black coat strolling by with his claws in his pockets. He seemed to be whistling a tune from an oldies radio station.

"What's wrong, Philip?" John said worriedly after a long period of silence. Philip now had a deep frown built on his face. "…I know that guy…" he whispered, still looking at the window where the Krookodile had been.

"…What?"

"I know that guy. I _know_ that guy. I KNOW THAT GUY!" Philip was spilling out his anger uncontrollably, his tiny paws clenched into tight fists. John was terrified. He had never seen him like that. "Calm down! You're scaring me!" John cried, trying to grab Philip's shoulders.

Philip's heavy breathing began to ease when he saw his friend's worry. "I'm sorry," he quickly said. "But that guy… is Gold Rush." John's mouth opened in shock, but before he could respond, he saw Philip hurrying to get out.

"Wait! What are you doing!?"

"I can't let him get away this time! He has to pay!"

"But that guy can beat you up easily!"

"But I just can't let him go this time!"

"..B-but…"

John didn't know what else to say, but either way it was too late; Philip was already out of the store. _I hope he's going to be okay_, he thought as he sat behind the front counter, nothing left to do but worry.

…

Philip followed Gold Rush almost all the way to the other side of town. Since he was a small guy, he could easily hide from him if he was suspicious that someone was following him. Philip was unsure of doing this, but there was something else that told him this was now or never.

He was now hiding behind a wall, peeking at his enemy with watchful eyes as he knocks on a door in an alleyway. Philip leans a little closer to hear a conversation.

*knock knock*

"Password?"

"_Pikurusu_."

The blue steel door opened for the Krookodile, and he immediately went inside. Once he completely disappeared, the door closed quietly, making a small clicking noise.

_Pickle? That was the password_? Philip thought. _That's lame_. Philip, now deciding it was a good time to go back to the store and plot out his next move, turned around to find two big figures standing in his way. He looked up to see a Tyranitar and a Dragonite wearing black tip hats sneering down at him.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Tyranitar said.

"Looks like we got a trespasser," Dragonite growled.

"What should we do with it, then?"

"Let's ask for a third opinion."

Dragonite's Dragon Claw knocked Philip out cold. All he could see was darkness. He thought he was dead for sure.

After what seemed like hours, Philip woke up to a throbbing pain on the side of his head. He rubbed it gently, letting out a slight moan of pain. Then his surroundings caught his attention; he didn't recognize the place at all. He found himself lying down on the cold concrete floor in what seemed like a room. It was dark except for a dim light bulb hanging around loosely from a wire attached to the ceiling. He looked around and didn't see anything until he saw a pair of eyes staring at him from the dark shadows. The figure stepped out and revealed itself to be a black tip hat-wearing Scrafty. He looked stronger than other Scrafty that Philip has seen, and this intimidated him.

The Scrafty began to walk slowly around Philip. "So, we got a trespasser here, eh?" he said. "How interesting…" The Scrafty stopped and turned to face Philip. "Why are you here, hm? You want somethin' or what?" Scrafty stooped over Philip and brought his face closer to his. "Well you're in the wrong place, see. This is _our _turf, and you ain't got nothin' to do here. We make the rules around here, and you're about to find out what we do to Pokemon like you." Philip gulped loudly at Scrafty's face. He suddenly regretted thinking about coming here.

Scrafty dropped Philip from his grasp and began to walk away. He snapped his fingers in the air. "Show him the way out, boys," he requested as he disappeared into the darkness. Then, the Tyranitar and the Dragonite from earlier came out from the shadows and smiled evil-like at Philip, thinking about what they're going to do to him.

Philip stood up slowly, rubbing the side of his head again while holding his stance. He had to defend himself; he got himself into this mess, so he needs to try to get out of it.

Tyranitar first used Crunch, biting Philip's arm. Then Dragonite followed by using Aqua Tail, completely catching him off guard and fell with a loud thump. Philip was in even more pain, but he didn't want to give up that easily. He then used Headbutt, which got Tyranitar from behind. Tyranitar was not really affected by it, and then continued to use Payback. Philip let out a harsh cry of pain as he collapsed on the ground. Dragonite had no sympathy when he used Dragon Rush on the now drained Karrablast. A violent shock of pain overtook Philip as he yelled some more. Then his eyesight blurred and went into deep unconsciousness.

Tyranitar and Dragonite smirked and high-fived each other. "Let's get rid of him," Tyranitar said. Dragonite nodded as they both took Philip's unconscious body towards the exit. They took him towards the garbage can located against the wall where Philip was hiding earlier and put him inside. The two bad Pokemon cackled in an evil manner as they walked back to their lair, satisfied on another job well done. Philip thought he would never see the sun rise again – or Amelia's lavender flame waving in the air.

…

John was getting really worried. It was six o' clock in the afternoon and Philip hasn't returned yet. He was pacing around nervously, thinking up all the possible places he could be at, until the opening of the door caught his attention.

It was Amelia, who was looking around the room, completely ignoring John. She came to visit Philip and invite him over for some tea later. John waited a few moments before answering. "Hi!" he said. "Can I help you?"

Amelia looked at him, wondering who he was. "Hi," she answered politely. "Is Philip here? I'm his friend, Amelia." John's face lit up, excited that he finally met Philip's crush. "Oh, yes! Philip has told me about you!" he smiled. Amelia was surprised. "He has?" she asked, curious and touched at the same time. She somehow felt… special.

"He sure has!" John said. Then he immediately went back to his worried state. "Unfortunately, he's not here right now. In fact, he hasn't been here all afternoon! He went after this guy, saying he recognized him because it was the guy that burned his sto-'' John quickly covered his mouth, remembering that that topic was a private matter.

Now Amelia wanted to know. "Burned his what?" she asked suspiciously. John's eyes opened wide, knowing that he was a terrible liar and wouldn't get out of this situation without spilling the beans.

"…I-I don't know if I should tell you…" he said, hoping she'd understand. But she didn't; she wanted to know everything. "Please tell me," she said. "I'm his friend, too, and this is starting to get me worried. Please, I need to know." Her amber eyes flickered, reflecting an emotion of hurt taking over her. John noticed the flickering of her eyes and his conscience was swirling his mind, making him unsure on what to do. _But_, he thought, _she might help me look for him. She is his friend, and Philip cares a lot about her…_

John sighed. "Okay. I'll tell you everything I know…"

…

Amelia couldn't believe what Philip has been through. And here she was, thinking that her life was a horrible mess. She now understood Philip much more, and was thankful that John was able to share his information with her.

"Poor Philip…" was all she managed to say, wiping off her tears from hearing Philip's back story. John put a hand on her shoulder, trying to comfort her as he gave her a tissue. Amelia thanked him and dabbed around her eyes with it.

John began to pace again. "Now, the question is where to find Philip. He never told me where he was going…" John rubbed his chin, thinking as hard as he can where he could possibly locate his lost friend.

Amelia did some thinking of her own. She remembered that John described the Krookodile wearing a tip hat. "John?" she asked. "Did you say he was wearing a black tip hat?" John nodded, wondering how good was that going to do to find Philip.

Amelia jumped off from her chair in newfound excitement. "That's it! He's probably at the Tipper's lair!" John raised an eyebrow, wondering how she knew that. As if she understood his expression, Amelia smiled shyly. "I unfortunately have trouble with gangs," she explained. John nodded, taking it as a normal response.

"Do you know where their hideout is at?"

"Yes. It is about five to six blocks from here."

"Perfect! Let's go!"

John locked up the store with Philip's key copy, making sure he had the "Open" sign switched to "Closed". He turned towards Amelia, smiling nervously, for they were off on a journey to find their dear friend… wherever he might be.


	6. The Plan

_**Chapter 6: The Plan**_

Philip woke up the following day, still drained from energy. He was throbbing in pain from all sides of his tiny body, and his red bowtie was now ripped up. He tried to open his eyes, but only managed to open one because he had a black eye. He looked around and found himself lying in a crowded place with a lot of junk. _I'm in a dumpster…? _He didn't know how he got there, but he figured he should get out of there before something unfortunate happens again. But for now, he was glad he was alive.

Just then, someone opened the lid of the dumpster. It was a Linoone in a trash collector uniform. Philip realized that it was noon because it was really sunny outside, and the sun was hurting his vision. He tried to shield his eyes, but his arm was in pain from Tyranitar's Crunch and he flinched. The Linoone was surprised to see another Pokemon in the same dumpster; Philip is the 10th Pokemon he has found there in the last two months.

"Hey, are you alright, buddy?" Linoone asked. He was a very sympathetic Pokemon, and each time he found a beaten up Pokemon there, he'd always find a way to help out. Philip tried to answer, but he was in so much pain that he just laid there. Linoone was getting worried. "Hold on, guy," he said as he carefully lifted up the hurt Karrablast. "I'm gonna take you to the PokeCenter, alright?" He took him in his dump truck, laying him down and buckling his seatbelt carefully. Philip blacked out again, still severely hurt from the unfortunate encounter he had yesterday.

…

"It's no use," John told Amelia, "We don't know where he is anymore. We've spent a good amount of time looking, but he's simply not there." They were up almost all night and part of the morning looking and asking around for Philip. They didn't find any trace of him, and they have now returned to the jewelry store. The two Pokemon were really worried for their dear friend. What if he's not in town anymore? What if the Tippers did something drastic to Philip? They didn't want to think about it, but their worry just grew by each passing second.

They were hopeless and silent for a few minutes until the store phone rang. It was an old-fashioned copper telephone that Philip had in his family for years. John knew about this and it just reminded him of Philip and got him even more upset. He waddled over to answer the phone. He carefully picked it up and answered softly.

"Hello? How can I help you?"

"Is this John or Amelia?"

John was now interested where this is going. Trying not to get his hopes too high, he affirmed he was John.

"Ok, well, I found your friend Philip in a dumpster and took him to the Pokemon Center."

"Really!?" John was emotionally excited and jumped a little at the news. Amelia looked over towards his direction, wondering what was going on. John responded with shimmering eyes and a big smile.

"Yeah. He's doing okay right now, but he asked me to call you guys to let you know he's alright."

"Thank you so much Mr. …"

"Fred."

"Mr. Fred. Thank you! We'll be right over!"

John hung up and rushed over to Amelia. "They found Philip!" he squealed with emotion. Amelia's amber eyes lit up, her flame swaying a bit from the news.

"They did?"

"Yeah! He's at a Pokemon Center right now!"

"Then we better go see him now!"

They both rushed out of the store, John struggling in locking up because he couldn't hold his key straight from all the excitement. "Come on come on come on!" Amelia encouraged him. Finally he managed to lock the door and they both went running towards the Pokemon Center.

…

"I called your friends," Fred told Philip. "The guy who answered was all excited and said they'll be here right away. Philip smiled, now feeling better than a few hours ago. "Thanks, man," Philip said. "I don't know what would've happened if you didn't come around."

Philip was on a very comfortable hospital bed wrapped up in white sheets. He had bandages and a cast on his left arm. He also had a piece of meat over his black eye. Fred was nice enough to stay with him a little longer until his friends arrived. Philip told him he should go back to work to avoid consequences with his boss, but Fred explained that this was not the first time he was involved in this situation, so his boss understood.

When Fred brought Philip in, a Chansey he knew checked him in right away. Fred tried to explain the best he could of what happened, Philip groaning in pain in his arms. Chansey gave him antidotes and lots of healing potions and such. It was excruciating for Philip, but now he's glad it's all over.

Fred and Philip were in the middle of a conversation when the same Chansey knocked on their door and opened it. "You have some visitors," she told Philip, and walked away. A few seconds later, John and Amelia rushed into the room and began to cry. They were so happy to see Philip again, safe and sound.

"Oh, Philly!" John cried as he glomped Philip. "We were so worried about you, man!" Philip smiled. "Hey guys," he said wearily. "I'm still here." He looked toward the Linoone. "And it's all thanks to Fred." John and Amelia turned around to see the Linoone smiling at the attention Philip was getting. "It's what good people do," he shrugged. John and Amelia were a bit embarrassed because they did not see him there. They went over to introduce themselves.

"Well, Philip," Fred said as he got up from his chair. "I better get going. It was nice meeting you." He shook Philip's good arm. Philip smiled at the friendly man. "Thanks for everything." Fred smiled at the three small Pokemon and quietly left the hospital room without saying anything else.

As soon as the door clicked shut, John and Amelia turned their attention back at Philip. Philip was still a bit weak, but seeing his friends made him feel much better inside.

After all the emotional commotion was over, Amelia decided to talk about something important. "Philip?" she asked. Philip looked at her. "Yes?"

"I know everything…"

Philip's eyes widened as he blushed a bit. "…About what?"

"About your store… About what happened a year ago…"

Philip breathed a bit easier. "Oh," was all he managed to say. He looked at John, asking with his eyes about his decision of telling her about this touchy subject. John replied back with a face as if he was saying "I had to".

She looked down, trying to hide her face. "I didn't know… you went through so much," Amelia's voice broke a bit. Philip felt bad at Amelia's sadness. He didn't know it affected her that much. He put his tiny cast hand on hers. "Don't take it so hard," he assured her. "I guess… that's just how life rolls." Amelia looked up at him, her eyes shining and about to burst into tears. Her bottom lip was slightly quivering, a sight that broke Philip's heart. At the moment he ignored his physical pain and shared Amelia's emotional pain. He then surprised himself by embracing her in a hug, forcing himself to wrap his arms around her without grunting. He closed his eyes and allowed the moment to sink in. She didn't hesitate in hugging him back, her face resting on his tiny shoulder. Philip felt his face get hot as a blush flooded his face. Philip opened his good eye and looked at john, who was trying to mind his own business to give them their own time. Philip signaled John over, and soon they were all in a warm and comforting group hug, everything silent except the low volume of the television's static screen.

…

"Thank you, Nurse Chansey," Philip said as he shook the kind nurse's hand. He was finally checking out of the Pokemon Center.

"A pleasure!" Nurse Chansey said. "I'm glad I can be of service. Now, off you go!"

Philip, Amelia, and John waved goodbye at the nurse as they made their way out of the center. Philip still had some bandages on, but his cast was off. He inhaled deeply, feeling free and happy. He missed the freshness of the air.

"Let's take you home," John said. Philip nodded as he told them where he lived. He lived about three blocks from the center, which from his store was four blocks. He lived in a small brown brick house. It had a small chimney, two blue windows, and a blue door. It was between two big houses, which stood out from them both. John and Amelia helped Philip get there by carefully holding on to his arms.

"Here we are!" Philip said once they stood in front of his house. He pulled out a yellow key to unlock the door. When they stepped inside, it smelled like pancakes and syrup, and it was warm and cozy inside. Philip closed the door and they all sat down on comfy blue couches. John noticed he didn't have a television, which was something that people nowadays can't live without. There was a bit of silence until John broke the ice.

"Philip," he said, putting his tiny hands together in a professional manner. "I hope you learned from all of this to _not_ go after bad guys by instinct." Philip looked down a bit. "Yeah, I have," he admitted. "I won't do it again."

"So you said that guy you saw was Gold Rush?" Amelia asked. Philip nodded. "He's the guy that set my store on fire. I thought I could get him this time—''

"But you didn't," John reminded him.

Philip rolled his eyes. "Yeah, yeah. Luckily I know where he's hiding now, so all I need to do is figure out how to strike back."

John jumped off from his seat. "Whoa there! You barely got out of there alive. You're obviously weaker than those guys you fought back there. You can't just go back there like it was nothing!"

"Yeah," Amelia added. "You'll probably end up in an even more critical condition than now."

Philip thought about it. "True," he said. "But what should I do, then?"

"You just relax and rest for a good amount of time until you heal up completely," John said as he placed a blanket on Philip. "I can't just sit here and do nothing!" Philip complained. John put a hand up. "Hush!" he said. "Enough of this! Now, I'm going to make you people some tea, if you don't mind." And with that, he made his way toward Philip's kitchen, leaving Philip and Amelia alone once again.

Amelia went over towards Philip and tucked in his blanket. Philip felt all warm and fuzzy inside, and this time he knew why. Amelia looked around and saw a record player. "Do you mind if I put some music?"

"Not at all," Philip smiled. Amelia smiled back and went to look for a record to play. Then she found one that caught her attention and blew off the dust of the paper slip. She carefully took out the record and placed it on the player. She wound it up and placed the needle on it, and soon the sweet sound of waltz music filled the house. It happened to be one of Philip's favorite songs and it set the mood perfectly. He closed his eyes and smiled, letting the music flow.

He opened his eyes to find John holding his cup of tea. "Thanks," he said as he took his teacup with his good arm and drank it. He liked his tea hot. The first sip relaxed him tremendously. "Yeah…" he sighed with satisfaction. "You make a mean tea, John." John smiled and bowed. "Why, thank you!" he said, and handed over Amelia's cup.

They were all blissful and snug in Philip's little house, until Philip brought up the subject again. He put down his teacup on the small coffee table before he spoke. "Maybe my grandpa can help me out…" he thought out loud.

John and Amelia looked at each other with uncertainty. "You just won't quit, huh?" John said.

"I _can't_ quit!" Philip protested. "Don't you see? This could be my only chance to give him what he deserves!" He lifted his bandaged arm up. "Justice must take its place here!" Then he whimpered a bit as he brought his arm down.

"How about this," Amelia spoke up. "We can help you out _if_ you promise you'll do your part in getting better. Then we can go visit your grandfather." She walked up to Philip and stuck out her tiny hand. "Deal?"

Philip half smiled at her, thinking that this idea wasn't bad at all. "Deal," he said as he took her soft hand in his. He quickly glanced at John and saw that he was excitedly giving him two thumbs up, and he blushed a bit. Once Amelia turned back around, John returned to his natural state, holding in a smile.

The rest of the day was spent with good conversation and everyone was having a simply good time. There was laughter and such as the hours passed by, and John finally got to know Amelia better. Soon it was nighttime, and John suggested that he and Amelia can spend the night there. Philip liked that idea a lot; it was nice to have company around. John called his Petilil wife and Amelia called her parents to let them know of their plan. "Looks like Delilah won't have her Sugar Daddy tonight," John said playfully. Everyone cracked up at the random remark as they set up the blankets on the floor. Philip decided to spend the night on the floor, too, so he set up his own space with a lot of effort, Amelia and John helping him in the process.

Soon, they were all tucked in, but they couldn't sleep. Amelia turned off her flame, but being under a good amount of blankets kept her warm. She was in the middle of the two boys, her eyes glowing as they were wide awake. She liked how inviting Philip's house is, the way it smelled like breakfast all the time. She sniffed the air deeply once more, loving every moment of the syrupy smell. A few moments passed by, and Amelia soon realized she was the only one awake as she heard the gentle snores of her two guy friends. She looked at John, who seemed like he was whistling instead of snoring. She smiled, knowing now that he was a good guy. Then she looked over at Philip, who was still wrapped up in some bandages, but not as much as before. She began to study his face, noticing how calm it was. She has seen other Karrablast with angry expressions embedded on their faces, but she had never seen one as calm as his. She stared some more, not realizing she was inching closer to him. She then traced her finger around the bandages of his arm, counting them along the way. A few seconds later she realized what she was doing and blushed. She looked at Philip's face for a brief second and scooted back to her spot and turned the other way. She was glad Philip was asleep.

Right when she turned around, Philip opened his eyes – his black eye healed up a bit – because he felt a light soft touch on his arm and wondered what it was. He looked to his right to see Amelia's back facing him. _It felt like her hand_, he thought. But why would she do that? That's something he wouldn't expect from her, but something he would dream up, or in most cases, something that comes up in soap operas. But not now. Not ever. Because this was reality. But just the thought of the possibility left him smirking like a fool. He rubbed his bandaged arm, wondering if Amelia had touched it or not. Philip smiled once again before closing his eyes and falling asleep. He had a feeling he was going to have a pleasant dream tonight.


	7. Grandpa Shelmet

_**Chapter 7: Grandpa Shelmet**_

A week has passed, and Philip has never felt better in all his life, thanks to the support of his two best friends. They have always checked up on him that past week, giving him medicine and offering their company. He was glad his friends were good people.

It was Monday, and he called John and Amelia over to finally start with his plan. Even though he was severely hurt, he never gave up on his idea. Philip anxiously waited for them to arrive at his home, still in deep thought of his plan. A knock on the door interrupted his thoughts as he rushed over to answer it. He found both John and Amelia on the other side of the door. "Hey, guys," Philip greeted them. "I'm glad you could make it. Come on in!" He ushered them inside to the never-ending scent of pancakes and syrup. He motioned them to sit down.

"Okay," he said. "Remember when I said that maybe my grandpa can help me out?"

John and Amelia nodded.

"Well it turns out he can. I called him earlier today and said he can give me a hand."

"Can I ask why your grandpa?" John said. "No offense, but how is he going to help you?"

"Oh, he's a karate teacher," Philip answered proudly. "Even at his age, he doesn't plan to quit anytime soon."

"Impressive," Amelia said. "Where does he teach?"

"He teaches on top of those mountains," Philip said as he pointed out the window towards two tall pale blue mountains. "It's going to take a while to get there, which is why I asked you guys to come over today." He sat down again, facing his friends. "I was wondering if you guys would like to go with me over there."

John and Amelia were surprised; they have never hiked up mountains before. They weren't really sure what to answer; they had their own things to attend to.

"Lemme see what Delilah has to say about this," John said as he went over to the house phone to call his Petilil wife.

_Ring! Ring!_

_ "Hello?"_

_ "Hey, Delilah. It's John."_

_ "Hi sweetie! What's up?"_

_ "I need to ask your opinion on something."_

_ "Okay, I'm listening…"_

_ "Well, Philip would like for me and another friend to go with him to visit his grandpa over the mountains…"_

_ "All the way over there?"_

_ "Yep."_

_ "Ohh, John… I had plans for you tonight…"_

_ "Really?"_

_ "Yeah… But if you want to cancel tonight…"_

_ "No! I mean… Please don't…"_

_ "Okay. Sorry you can't go with him this time."_

_ "It's alright; he'll understand."_

_ "Okay. I'll see you tonight, honey. Kisses!"_

*click*

"Yeah, I can't go," John said as he returned to the living room. "Delilah wants to spend time with me, so yeah…"

"It's okay," Philip assured him. "I'm not forcing you to go or anything like that. I'm fine going by myself; I just wanted to see if you guys would like to come along." They nodded.

"I don't think I can go either," Amelia added. "My parents don't want me to go out that far." Philip nodded, realizing that he was alone in this one. "Okay. My grandpa said I can see him today, which means I gotta go pack up." He offered them some pancakes as he went to get his stuff packed up. He didn't plan to stay that long, so he didn't pack a lot of stuff. He emptied a backpack he used to take to school back in third grade, still filled with papers marked with his sloppy innocent writing. He put the papers in his closet and began to fill up his backpack.

This felt like a big first step for him. He was finally going to proceed in his plan to strike back. He felt nervous, but at the same time it felt like the right thing to do.

…

"Good luck!" John called after Philip.

"Take care of yourself!" Amelia called.

"I will! Thank you!" Philip replied. He had just finished saying good-bye to them, packed up and all. It felt weird for him leaving his home for who knows how long. He proceeded toward the town park.

When he was younger, his father had told him of a secret entrance to his grandfather's house.

"_Remember, Phil," he told him, "When no one is around, look for a brick wall hidden behind an old tree and knock on the blue brick three times fast."_

"_Whoa!" Philip said in awe. "Can I try it now?"_

"_When you're older," his dad said. "Now we gotta go; you're late for your baseball game!"_

Philip arrived at the town park. There were a handful of children playing baseball on the grass. He remembered his Little League days, and his grandfather was somewhat disappointed he took up baseball instead of karate. Hopefully his grandfather can still teach him his ways after all these years.

He walked up to the spot where he remembered his father telling him about the secret passageway. He has never tried it out, and he hoped it still worked; otherwise he would have to hike all the way up the mountain. He went around the still-standing old tree and found a small blue brick on the wall. He remembered it being bigger when he was little, but he didn't pay mind to that. He knocked quickly on the blue brick, just like his father had told him to. He waited and waited; nothing happened. Philip felt disappointed at this, and realized he has to take the hiking challenge. Until he turned around, he heard the sound of something splitting up. Philip turned around and saw some bricks of the wall near the ground split up, forming a small entrance big enough to crawl through. Philip felt happier at this sudden surprise as he got on his knees and began making his way inside the wall.

The narrow tunnel was cold, wet, and covered with spider webs. It was also very dark in there, except for a small light on the other end. Philip struggled as he crawled in what seemed like an upward direction. His hands occasionally slipped when he came across small slippery puddles. He crawled on for a good ten minutes, until the light ahead of him got bigger and bigger as he approached it. Finally, he crawled out and dusted himself off from all the spider webs he encountered. He was now on top of the grassy mountain. He turned around and found himself standing in front of a dojo. He smiled, knowing he had finally reached his destination.

Philip went up to the entrance and knocked on the sliding door. There was no answer. He knocked again, a bit louder this time, but there was still no answer. He decided to let himself in; he didn't really need to knock, since they are family and all. He slid the door and walked into an empty training room with training equipment scattered about. "Grandpa?" he called. "Are you there?" The buzzing silence replied, not satisfying Philip, until he heard a slight hum not too far away. Philip followed the humming noise all the way to a room. He opened it carefully and peeked in. There he found his grandfather meditating, surrounded by numerous candles. The old Shelmet wore a tiny black belt and looked worn out and crusty, but at the same time full of life. Philip didn't know what to do; he knew interrupting his meditation was not polite, but he didn't want to wait around. He decided to lightly knock on the sliding door to make him aware of his presence.

The barely audible knock startled the old Shelmet as he snapped out of his concentration. "W-who's there?" he said shakily, completely startled. He turned around and saw his grandson standing on the doorway. "Philip? Is that you?" he asked as he squinted his beady eyes at him.

"Hi, grandpa," Philip waved as he went over to give him a greeting hug. "My, you have grown big over the years!" Grandpa Shelmet said as he embraced him. "What brings you here?"

"Remember? I called you to see if it was okay for me to drop by."

"You did?"

"Yeah…"

"Ooh. I don't remember… Boy, that old age of mine is finally catching on to my head. *chuckle*"

"It's okay, grandpa."

"Come with me to the kitchen."

Grandpa Shelmet led the way to the kitchen to offer some him some tea. "I haven't seen any of your cousins for a while, either," he mentioned. "I tell ya; as soon as they turned into adults, they just got up and left, roaming around, wondering what to do with themselves. But you, Philip, you are different. I have felt it ever since you were born." They kneeled themselves around the small kitchen table as they continued to catch up.

"Yes," Grandpa Shelmet continued, "You were a spawn of goodness, unlike your cousins. You decided to stay here and have not allowed anything foolish go to your head."

"Actually, I stayed because of fate," Philip corrected, referring to the tragic accident that led to his parents' demise.

"Things happen for a reason, Philip," Grandpa Shelmet said in his wisdom tone. "And speaking of reasons, what is your reason being here?"

Philip sat his teacup down, feeling a bit anxious to start as he took a deep breath. "…I would like for you to train me."

Grandpa Shelmet looked at him in surprise. He had been waiting for so long for one of his grandchildren to learn the ways of karate. "Wonderful!" Grandpa Shelmet said. "After all these years, it was worth the wait! Your cousins did not ever listen to my persuasion when I tried teaching them karate. I am right; you _are_ different." Philip smiled; that was easier than he thought.

"I'm sorry for doing that, too," Philip added. "I took up baseball instead when I was younger."

"Ah, that was the past," Grandpa Shelmet said. "It is never too late to learn something new. Besides, your mother had forbid me to even teach you. She thought that it will make you senseless and bring harm to others, especially because you are of a hardy nature." Grandpa Shelmet suddenly took out a bamboo stick from behind him and pointed it at Philip, taking him by surprise. "Let us begin."

"N-now!?" Philip asked, a bit overwhelmed at the size of the weapon.

"Now is always the time to take action," Grandpa Shelmet replied. Then he jumped up in the air with such unexpected energy and lunged at Philip. Philip dodged just in time, noticing how the bamboo stick made a hole on the hardwood floor. _Is he trying to kill me!?_ Philip started running towards the padded training room while he somehow managed to steer clear of Grandpa Shelmet's blows. He hid behind a punching bag, but Grandpa Shelmet managed to knock it away from him. The bag was sent crashing against the other side of the room, ripping as it made contact. Philip's eyes widened at the sight and had second thoughts about coming here.

His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a whip of Grandpa Shelmet's bamboo stick knocked out all of Philip's air and crashed against the floor. Philip coughed and rubbed his back in pain. _Holy shi-_

WHACK! Another blow got him upside the head, making his face crash on the floor. "You need to step it up, Philip!" Grandpa Shelmet called as he prepared another attack. Philip rolled over, avoiding another painful injury. He struggled to get up and backed away from the bamboo stick as best as he could.

"Do not fear the stick!" Grandpa Shelmet said as he lunged after him. Philip decided to give it a try, still scared out of his mind. How was he _not_ going to fear the stick? He can see why his cousins refused karate lessons. But like his grandfather had said: he is different. As these words of encouragement were embedded in his mind, he stood up and measured his attempt to block the blow. As Grandpa Shelmet approached, he stood on his place firmly as he planted his tiny feet down, and right where the stick was supposed to strike him…

WHACK! He blocked it! Then he felt his tiny hands tremble from the impact as a wave of murderous pain throbbed in them. "YEOW!" Philip cried as he dropped to his knees. His eyes filled with tears as he yelled his pain out, Grandpa Shelmet watching him without saying a word. That strike was so powerful, he was sure his arms were about to get cut off, but instead they absorbed the impact in such an indescribably painful way. A few minutes later, Philip calmed himself down, still whimpering a bit from pain.

"Well done," Grandpa Shelmet said in a calm tone. "Not bad for your first attempt."

"What!?" Philip said angrily. "I got beaten up by a stick! How is that 'well done'!?"

"One learns from experience, Philip," he said, understanding him completely. "At all costs, no matter what."

Philip was still upset at his pathetic attempt at dodging his grandfather's blows. This was not what he had in mind. Not at all.

Grandpa Shelmet bandaged up Philip's hand and rubbed some cream on the bruised parts of his body. "So how long are you planning to stay?" Grandpa Shelmet asked casually.

"I'm not sure," Philip said. "But not for too long, though."

"Tell me, Philip. Why this sudden interest to learn karate, anyway?"

"… because of Gold Rush."

"What?"

"I want to set things right; justice must be made!"

"Violence is not the answer, Philip."

"I know, but… there's no other way. I know where he is now, and if you teach me… Will you help me out?"

"So, you say there is no other way?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes, yes, I am."

"…"

"Please…"

Grandpa Shelmet sighed. "Very well; I will teach you. But you must promise you will not get carried away with this practice. It is a very honorable one that is only used wisely. Understood?"

"Yes! Thanks a lot, grandpa!" Philip gave his grandfather a hug of appreciation, forgetting that he was the one that intentionally beat him up earlier. Either way, he was glad he was given an opportunity to finally set things right.

"By the way," grandpa Shelmet said, "you are a very fast runner; however we need to focus on your upper body strength to equalize the amount of energy you have within." Philip was surprised; that bamboo stick warm-up was done for something after all.

"Let us have some lunch, and then we can start with your training. Are you truly prepared for the vigorous challenges you will face?"

"Yes," Philip said. "I'll do whatever it takes to set things right."

"Very well." They bowed at each other, showing respect. Then they went to the kitchen to make some sandwiches.

…

"Hey, look who's here!"

The Dragonite and the Scrafty looked up and saw a Krookodile coming out of the bathroom.

"Yo, Gold Rush!" Dragonite said, "When'd you get here?"

"Not too long ago," he answered briskly.

"Hey, Greg took your place again the other day!" Tyranitar announced. Scrafty glared at him, cursing him with his eyes. Gold Rush turned around. "He did what?" he asked in a low voice. He went up to the Scrafty and picked him up by the neck. "How many times have I told ya that I'm the _only_ leader, even when I'm gone!?"

"I had… to…" Greg said between chokes. "We took care of… a trespasser…"

"A Karrablast," Dragonite said. "But we got 'em good!"

Gold Rush dropped the Scrafty and faced Dragonite. "A Karrablast? What was he doin' here?"

"Beats me," Tyranitar said. "Tough lil' guy, though. He wore a bow-tie, too. Must be a businessman or somethin'."

Gold Rush only knew of one particular bowtie-wearing Karrablast. The one that owns the jewelry store – the one he almost completely robbed. His biggest robbery yet. And that guy was here? Was he up to something?

"You don't need to worry anymore, though," Greg said as he rubbed his neck. "He'll probably never come back 'cause he's too scared to take another beatin'!"

"Aw, shut your yap," Gold Rush said as he played with his gold chain. "I actually know who that guy is."

This caught everyone's attention. "You do?" Tyranitar asked.

"Yeah; he owns that jewelry store downtown."

"Ohhh, that guy."

"If he was here, it was for one reason: me. He wanted to get revenge or somethin' —''

"But he wasn't prepared," Dragonite said with a smirk.

"Think about it," Gold Rush said. "He might wanna try again. And he'll get help. He _will_ be prepared next time…"

"What should we do about it?" Tyranitar asked.

"I say nothin'!" Greg said. "No one can beat Gold Rush!"

Gold Rush stood quiet for a bit. He's right; why was he worrying so much about a puny little Karrablast, who obviously had no chance against him?

"That's right," Gold Rush said. "An' it better stay that way. No Karrablast is gonna beat me! That's stupid!" Gold Rush then walked to the refridgerator, finding nothing pleasant to eat. "Whose turn is it to get grub?"

Tyranitar sighed heavily. "I'll order pizza."

Gold Rush just couldn't leave the subject alone. Why was it bothering him so much? He was Gold Rush, the invincible Krookodile, feared by everyone and anyone. There was no way that store clerk could change that.

…Right?


	8. Ready or Not!

**A/N: Just warning you guys ahead of time, this chapter is kind of a downer. Don't say I didn't warn you~!**

_**Chapter 8: Ready or Not!**_

Philip had grown stronger on a surprisingly fast rate over the last few days. Grandpa Shelmet was very proud of his grandson, and was glad that he could teach his skills to him during what he believed were his last moments. He felt fine, but he didn't think he would live much longer; he can feel it. But of course, he didn't tell Philip about it, for he would worry him and distract him from reaching and achieving his goal.

One late afternoon, Philip just got out from a nice hot shower after some rigorous training. He dried himself, noticing how he had gained a good amount of muscle as he posed in front of the bathroom mirror. He felt stronger and more agile than ever. He also thinks he grew a bit taller over time as well.

After drying himself up, he went out to the front patio where Grandpa Shelmet was waiting for him with some tea. Grandpa Shelmet poured some in his cup. Then they sat there, enjoying the view from a very high point. The mountain where the old Shelmet resides is the tallest point in town. The grandfather and grandson were caught up in their own thoughts, at the same time watching how the sun had gracefully set behind the hills. Grandpa Shelmet in particular worried a bit more about his health, and at the moment was conflicted in telling Philip about it.

Philip then sensed his grandfather's mood shift and looked at him to see what was the matter. Grandpa Shelmet was expecting his grandson's worried gaze to look at his own and question it, so he, too, slowly looked up into his face.

"What's wrong?" Philip asked.

Grandpa Shelmet looked for some sort of indirect response before he replied. "Philip," he began, "If anything ever happens to me soon, I want you to promise something."

This caught Philip's attention as his expression changed to surprise. "What is it?" he asked, not sure where this was going and not liking it either.

Grandpa Shelmet shifted his position to fully face his grandson. "When I die, I want you to remove my body from my shell and bury it in the middle of the field before us with the most beautiful white flower you can find."

Philip was shocked; he didn't want to hear any more of this, but he kept on listening.

"I also want you to keep my shell. I want you to inherit it and use it in times of need. My shell may be quite old and fragile, but it is very powerful and has the ability to make you evolve once you wear it. You can revert back to your original form anytime when you mentally say 'Karrablast' three times in a row."

Grandpa Shelmet understood Philip's shock. "I know it is a lot to take in, Philip," he continued, "but we have to face the harsh reality. We both know that I am an old Shelmet ready to leave this world anytime soon, so we might as well talk about this." Philip nodded, feeling tears building up in his eyes.

Grandpa Shelmet turned and faced the field before him and sighed. "Now let us finish our tea," he said casually. Philip tasted it differently now, for his grandfather's words made his mouth bitter.

A few minutes later, they were both done and headed back inside the dojo. Philip stopped his grandpa for a moment. "Thank you so much for training me. There's no better teacher than you."

"Of course," Grandpa Shelmet said with a wrinkly smile. "It has been an honor to teach karate one more time."

Philip felt a wave of emotion crash into him as he hugged his grandfather tightly. "I love you, grandpa," he told him, his voice a bit shaky. Grandpa Shelmet snuggled back warmly. "I know," he replied. Once they broke free from the heartwarming hug, they wished each other a good night and went their separate ways into their rooms. The night was very peaceful, with a full moon shining, and the sound of Kricketot and Kricketune playing melodies in the night.

Another warm day was brought to the awakening townspeople. A ray of sunlight snuck in to Philip's window, landing directly on his face. With a bit of struggle he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He stretched his tiny arms out as he let out a big long yawn. He got up and walked towards the kitchen. He didn't see his grandfather in the kitchen yet, which was strange because he would usually be there first. _He's probably tired, that's all,_ Philip thought.

He served himself some scrambled eggs with a side of bacon and a glass of milk. He sat and ate there, thinking about his grandfather's words from the night before. He has seen him full of life the last few days… or that's what he thought. He recalled what he thought Grandpa Shelmet coughing repeatedly one night, but he dismissed it and thought it was a loud and disruptive Timburr or something.

A few minutes later, he was done with his breakfast, and yet his grandfather hasn't shown up yet. Now he was getting really worried. It was not like him to be sleeping in at this time; he was known to be an early bird. Philip was about to go check on him, when he thought of the possibility that his grandfather might be meditating. He decided to wait for a bit longer, until suddenly he heard uncontrollable coughing coming from his grandpa's room.

Quickly, he bursted in and found Grandpa Shelmet still in bed, looking very pale as he continued to cough. Philip rushed to his side, panicking and not knowing what to do. He looked at his grandfather's face, looking for a sign to tell him what to do, or at least to tell him that he was going to be okay.

Grandpa Shelmet struggled to look at his scared grandson. In between coughs, he told him something. Philip tried to understand him, but he couldn't. He struggled to hear him one more time.

"The… th- the… pr- pro- pro- pro… promise…"

After that, he took his final breath and died right before Philip's eyes. Philip couldn't believe it; he was gone. He was out of his shell of a body. For good, so it seems. Philip couldn't hold his tears back any longer and wept with feeling, kneeling next to his grandfather's bed. He was crying uncontrollably, his tears never seeming to stop anytime soon.

After a few moments he somehow managed to recollect most of himself as best as he could and remembered the promise he had sworn to keep. He got up, trembling as he proceeded to get his grandfather out of his delicate shell. He felt cold and lifeless, his pink slimy skin rubbing against Philip's tough blue one. He carefully carried him outside and proceeded to dig a hole.

Moments later, Grandpa Shelmet was now underground. Philip couldn't and didn't want to believe what he just did, but he knew he wasn't done yet. He looked around for a white flower – specifically a beautiful one. He then spotted one single white flower planted in a small pot on the porch. He felt that this one had to be it and carefully dug it out and placed it on top of Grandpa Shelmet's burial spot. He stepped back and stared at it, not wanting to believe any of this. His grandfather was the best, and was practically his only relative, since his cousins never kept in touch with him.

He stood there like a zombie, not knowing what to do for a long time. He then felt tears flowing down his cheeks once again and began to wail, not caring if anyone heard. He had never cried this much ever since his parents passed away.

Moments passed, and Philip was just tired of crying but couldn't stop. His throat ached from screaming and crying, and his eyes were very red and swollen. It took a long time for him to calm down. Once he did, it began to rain, but stayed out a bit longer before he went inside.

What was he going to do now? He didn't know at the moment. His mind was clouded with images of his grandpa dying in front of him. He could have prevented it, he thought, but he also thought how he was supposed to do that. He sat on the kitchen table, not wanting to do anything else but to have his grandpa back.

"Why do bad things happen to the people I care about…" he said slowly as he stared emotionless at the kitchen table. He rubbed his face, trying not to feel all that melancholy anymore, but it was just inevitable.

Nighttime came, and it was still raining. Philip thought it over and over until he came to the conclusion that the time came to leave the dojo. He didn't want to, but he knew he was more than ready to carry on his purpose. He packed up his things and carefully held the shell he inherited. He stepped outside and slowly approached his grandfather's grave one last time. "Thank you," he told him, and proceeded on the long way home.

The walk down the tall mountain was a bit longer than he expected. Fifteen minutes later, he arrived in front of the park. It was cold and very quiet. Everyone was asleep, and Philip's tiny steps echoed throughout the whole place. His house was not that far, so he'll get there in no time.

Philip doesn't know if either John or Amelia have been checking on his house, and wondered how business has been, with Mateo making all the jewelry and John handling the business all by himself. He then realized that he missed it here. He forgot how long he stayed at his grandfather's dojo.

Finally, he got to his house safe and sound and went inside to find the place exactly how he had left it, pancake smell and everything. He dropped his backpack on a nearby couch, truly exhausted from the hike down. He looked around for a spot to place the shell, and decided on the little desk he has in his room. He went to his room and dusted off the desk and carefully placed the shell on it. He looked at it and wondered how it had the ability to evolve him and back whenever he wanted. He decided not to think about it anymore for today and crawled on his bed and immediately went to sleep.


	9. Philip the Escavalier

_**Chapter 9: Philip the Escavalier**_

The next day, Philip slept in and woke up very late; much later than he expected. He rolled over on his bed and got off, stretching his sore back. He decided to finally call John and tell him of his arrival and that he was going to be a bit late for work today. He went downstairs to use the house phone and dialed John's house number.

_*Ring Ring*_

_ "Hello?"_

_ "Hey, it's Philip."_

_ "Oh, hi! You're back already!?"_

_ "Yup. I called to let you know that I'll be a bit late for work, okay? I mean, if you don't mind opening up."_

_ "Of course not! I'm actually on my way over right now. I can't wait to hear about your training. You must look ripped by now! *laugh*"_

_ "Ha, sure. Alright I'll see you in a bit."_

_ "Okay, then. Bye!"_

_ *Click*_

Philip sat down and slumped on the couch and put his face on his hands. He felt like crap. After the incident with his grandfather and oversleeping, he felt drained and wanted to stay in his room all day. But he knew he couldn't escape it and had to deal with it. He took a deep breath as he got up to eat some pancakes. Surely that'll cheer him up.

…

"Oh, hey! You're finally back!" John said as he greeted his Karrablast friend seeing him enter the jewelry store. Karrablast half-smiled at him, and then noticed that Amelia was there as well. For him it seemed like she looked even more beautiful than before. He missed that warm feeling he got every time he saw her.

"Welcome back!" Amelia said happily. She truly missed him; it wasn't the same without his presence. "I brought donuts to celebrate. You want one?"

Philip smiled a bit more. "Sure, thanks," he said as he approached her and picked his donut. They got some Moomoo Milk and sat down on a corner of the store where a table was waiting for them. John and Amelia were eager to know of Philip's training and such, but unlike them, Philip was a bit too down in the dumps to tell the story right.

"So how did it go?" John asked eagerly.

"I see that it was super effective," Amelia giggled as she referred to Philip's muscles.

Philip slightly blushed. "Heh, yeah, I guess," he said.

John then felt that something wasn't right. "Hey, are you feeling okay?" he asked. Philip tried so hard to ignore the big knot in his throat so he can speak as if nothing was wrong. "Oh, you know, I'm just a bit tired," he said as his voice cracked a bit. _I hope they didn't notice…_

"Are you sure?" Amelia asked, her amber eyes showing growing concern. Philip felt like he was going to break down again as he looked from one friend to another. Finally making up his mind, he decided to talk about it. Just a bit.

"Well," he spoke, his voice a bit more quivery this time. He looked down at the table, avoiding eye contact. "…something happened."

John and Amelia were now worried about him. They have never seen him like this, but stayed quiet to listen to their friend.

Philip felt his tears ready to burst out, but held them back as much as he could. He didn't want to talk about it anymore, but he couldn't just leave his friends like this, curious to know what happened. He swallowed hard as he continued.

"He… my grandpa…" He took a deep breath. "… he died." There was dead silence after he finished what he had to say. Philip then put his head down on the table, ready to cry again.

Meanwhile, John and Amelia looked at each other, feeling terrible for their friend's loss. Then they saw Philip shaking as he was sobbing quietly. It was heartbreaking, really.

Philip was trying so hard not to wail and to stay put. He didn't know if he's ever going to stop crying. Moments later he felt a hand on his shoulder, but didn't look up. "I'm sorry," he heard John say. Then he felt Amelia sort of hugging him. But he didn't look up; he didn't want to. Yet there was a voice in the back of his head that told him to not be shy, to show these true emotions to these true friends.

Finally, Philip slowly began to lift his head up while he wiped the tears from his eyes, but kept his vision on the table. His friends felt terrible. They've planned on spending the day with taking the day off and going out on the town and hang out. Unfortunately, their plans have unexpectedly changed.

John was first to speak after a while. "Hey," he told them, "Let's take the day off and go somewhere. That'll be good for all of us."

"That sounds good," Amelia agreed. "How about we go to… my dad's restaurant? There's good food there."

Philip remembered Amelia's dad, Richard, telling him to stop by anytime at his restaurant. He didn't think it was a bad idea, but he was in such a terrible mood that he didn't feel like going anywhere; this depression he had was weighing him down way too much. He looked at Amelia, his eyes still shining from his tears. "I dunno…" he said a bit unconvinced.

"Aw, c'mon!" John said. "You need some fresh air right now."

"And fresh food," Amelia added.

"You know it's not good for _anyone_ to lock themselves up and ignore everything as depression eats you alive," John stated. "And we're here to help you avoid just that." Philip looked at him, understanding the reason in his sentence, but he simply didn't feel like going anywhere and groaned. "I know, but—''

"No buts!" John interrupted. "In fact, we're going right now! Lead the way, Am!" He grabbed Philip's arm and almost literally dragged him out, Amelia locking up the door as soon as she flipped the sign to "Closed". "You guys are gonna _love_ the food," Amelia assured them with a smile. Then she hopped in front of the little pack as she led the way to "Chow Time".

…

"Here we are!" Amelia announced as they found themselves standing in front of a restaurant made out of red bricks and its name shown on a medium-sized banner. She signaled them to go in, and they both noticed how excited Amelia got, which made them wonder how good the food really is.

They stepped inside the small restaurant and met a savory aroma of deep-fried chicken; it smelled like Thanksgiving time. The walls were painted a deep shade of red with gold trimmings, with matching tablecloths. There were only two other Pokemon in the restaurant besides them – a young Cacnea boy with his Cacturne dad. As she brought two menus along, Amelia found a good spot for the three of them next to a window and sat them there. She handed them their menus and gave suggestions on what to order as they scanned all the possible entrees they had. They all sounded good: they had everything from BLTs to sirloin steak, and their newest entrée they had is chicken and waffles.

As soon as they made their choices – John picked for Philip because he said he wasn't all that hungry – Amelia got their orders and menus and went to the kitchen to make their food.

"Hey, dad. Hey, Bobby," Amelia said. "Hey, Amy," Bobby the Gollum said. "Hi, honey," Richard said. They were both busy stir-frying and stirring food at a very quick pace. Amelia told them that she invited John and Philip here and she's going to make their food. She was careful in not mentioning Grandpa Shelmet's unfortunate death to avoid Philip some more trouble.

"That's nice of you, Amelia," Richard said. "Tell them I said hi."

"From me, too," Bobby added as he added more oil to the stir-fry.

Amelia nodded and got busy as well. Because of her short stature, there were some stools set out on certain areas of the kitchen for her to reach. She has had a passion for culinary arts ever since Richard started bringing her to work when she was fairly young. She likes it a lot and learned everything from none other than her dad, but she doesn't want to go pro and decided to stay in the family business instead.

And because she learned from her dad, she learned quickly and is able to cook at the same pace as Richard and Bobby. Occasionally she would ask how to do certain things, but that was it. Other than that she knew the ropes around cooking.

Minutes later she had two cheese omelets ready to eat. She also made another one for herself, because she planned to have lunch with her best friends. She walked out of the kitchen and made her way to their table, where she saw John and Philip talking about something. She couldn't exactly make out what they were saying, but assumed it wasn't any of her business anyway.

John and Philip turned toward Amelia's direction and were surprised to see how good the omelets looked. It looked and smelled so good that their mouths began to water.

"Are your mouths watering or what?" Amelia said playfully as she set down the plates on the table. The two guys nodded as they kept staring at the golden goodness. Amelia laughed. "That's usually what everyone says. That's why it's called Cloud Nine Omelet."

After Amelia sat down, they dug in. John kept making faces of satisfaction every time he took a bite. Philip didn't realize how hungry he actually was after taking his first bite. Amelia smiled at them, knowing that they already know she's a good cook.

"Oh, shoot!" Amelia said in realization. "I forgot to bring the drinks. I'll be right back." She hopped out of her seat and made her way back in the kitchen. John and Philip kept eating, not getting enough of their amazing omelets.

"Duuude!" John said. "Best. Lunch. Ever!"

Philip quickly nodded in agreement as he stuffed more omelet bites in his already stuffed mouth.

Amelia came back shortly with homemade orange juice for them. During their meal, Amelia noticed how happier Philip had gotten and she felt proud of herself, especially because Philip started feeling comfortable talking about his trip at Grandpa Shelmet's dojo.

"… and then he was about to whack me again, but _I_ decide to block it with my _bare hands_. Worst decision ever, I tell ya," Philip told them as he remembered the pain too clearly. "It hurt like hell!"

"I can imagine," John said. "But I assume that you've gotten better over time, right?"

"Well, yeah," Philip said. "Grandpa Shelmet had me on my toes the whole week, but I guess it was worth it."

"Yes it was," Amelia agreed as she looked at his muscular biceps again. Philip blushed a bit and laughed lightly. "Yeah."

"So," John said, "What's gonna happen to the dojo?"

"My grandpa has always said that he doesn't want anyone to have it and wants to leave it there alone," Philip answered. Then he remembered an important detail. "Oh! That reminds me! My grandpa left me something that should help me out big time… well, supposedly."

"What is it?" Amelia asked as she leaned in a bit, John just as curious as her.

"Well," Philip continued, "he left me his shell. He said that it's powerful and special in a way that it can let me evolve and change back whenever I wanted."

"Whaaat," John said in surprise.

"No way! Really?" Amelia asked.

"Yeah," Philip said. "Can you guys imagine me as an Escavalier?"

They all looked up at the ceiling, trying to imagine, but for some reason it seemed impossible to do so. "You should try it out today," John said after a while. They all agreed and were about to leave fully satisfied from the restaurant, when Philip put some coins on their table.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Amelia said.

"What, I'm paying for my food," Philip justified.

"Oh no no no! It's on me!" she insisted.

Philip looked at her for a while, then picked up the coins and placed them on her hand. "Then take it as a tip from me," he said. "That was a really good omelet. You got skill." Amelia blushed at the complement and took the tip without hesitation. He just made her day even better.

…

Later, they all were at Philip's house looking at the old and fragile shell he inherited. They looked at it for a long while now, wondering how it was supposed to work as Grandpa Shelmet had said it would.

"Sooo…" John said, "Do you, like, climb inside it or something?"

"Maybe," Philip said. "But dont'cha think I'll be… cramped in there?"

"Well it doesn't look like there's another way…" Amelia said as she tilted her head to the side.

Philip sighed, still a bit confused. "I guess it doesn't hurt to try, right?"

"Maybe." John said. "This shell's magical, right? Something out of the ordinary _could_ happen…"

Philip rolled his eyes as he approached the shell. He carefully opened it up and crawled inside, feeling tight in there. They waited for a while, but nothing happened. Philip was about to crawl out, when suddenly the expected unexpectedly happened. He shone a bright white light, his form shaping up into…

An Escavalier! It really happened! John and Amelia looked up at the now taller Philip in total awe. Philip inspected his new anatomy and was surprised as well that it actually worked.

"Whoa, guys!" Philip said in a deeper voice, "It really worked!"

"How do you feel?" John asked.

"I can't really feel my legs, and my arms feel a little different, but other than that, I feel stronger, and more agile! This is so cool!" He carefully floated over to the bathroom to check himself out better. He was really impressed that it worked like it should. He came back, his friends still surprised.

"Now try getting out of it," Amelia said.

"Oh yeah," Philip said, and remembered how he was told to do it. A few moments later, he was separated from the shell and reverted back to his original self. Philip was still amazed at how he had evolved into an Escavalier. "That has got to be the best thing ever," he said. His friends nodded in agreement.

"Now, what are you going to do?" Amelia asked a bit worried.

Philip thought it over. He truly felt ready to do what he set out to do, especially with his new shell at his advantage. What else is there to do? "I guess tomorrow will be the day," he said.

"What do you mean?" John asked.

"Tomorrow will be the day I set things right," Philip declared. John and Amelia looked at each other, still not convinced that their dear Karrablast friend shouldn't do this. Now it was too late for that; a date has been set for the bowtie-wearing Karrablast to strike back.


End file.
